Lesson for today

WHAT a moving moment when those brave veterans of the Second World War stood proudly on the beaches of Normandy for the last time.

They were not there to glorify war, but to remember their comrades who never came back, who gave their lives to free Britain and Europe from the yoke of fascism. When the news of the invasion spread slowly throughout the concentration camps, it gave its starving inmates hope.

I went with Caerphilly Male Voice Choir many years ago to a commemoration of the Welsh brigades who liberated Antwerp. Some of the elderly residents came up to us and grasped our hands with tears of gratitude in their eyes. They recounted many instances of bravery on the part of our soldiers, many of whom died in the cause of freedom. “Only when you have lived under a fascist totalitarian occupation can you experience the unforgettable joy of liberation. We will never forget you - and we must never let it ever happen again”.

As we see the seeds of fascism born out of racism taking root in Europe, in Britain, and in Ukraine, where synagogues have been daubed with swastikas, we must keep faith with those who died. Never again.

Ipsoregulated

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